As a competitive swimmer growing up, we used to have "pasta parties" before big meets. (Do kids still do this? Or is carbo-loading not cool anymore?) Whenever we hosted the potluck-style shindig at our house, my mom and I would make fruit pizza for the grand finale. We pressed sugar cookie dough into a pizza pan and, after baking, topped it with cream cheese frosting and a rainbow of fresh fruit.

These days, I like making mini versions for my son and his friends with a vanilla bean-specked frosting and bowls of fresh fruit for DIY decorating. It's a dessert and an art project, all in one.

I never did much babysitting when I was younger, and neither did my husband, so we were fairly clueless when we started leaving our infant son with babysitters on our occasional date nights. Were we supposed to leave dinner? Or money for pizza? Embarrassingly, we left one sitter with neither one evening before I had the good sense to check in with my sister, an experienced babysitter. She confirmed that most families leave her with leftovers in the fridge or at least some snacks. I apologized to our sitter — who turned out to be a Kitchn reader, even more embarrassing! — and vowed to treat our babysitters' meals a little more thoughtfully.

Of course, thoughtful doesn't have to mean difficult or time-consuming. I barely have time to slap on makeup and unwrinkled clothes, let alone make a meal, in the 15 short minutes before the babysitter arrives. Instead, I rely on a few time-saving methods to make sure our sitters eat great food without adding any extra work for me.

Learning how to cook is an exciting, sometimes-scary thing. It's a rite of passage, a stepping stone to self-sufficiency. Soup is not just soup anymore, but a magic amalgam of vegetables, meat, spices, broth, and heat that you made yourself. Huzzah, bright new world! — where the pizza isn't takeout, and the chicken is oven-roasted, not store-bought.

Like anyone learning a new skill, those first cooking attempts are full of mistakes, doubt, and do-overs. It can be a frustrating experience, especially when more experienced cooks hover about trying to "help" out. If you really want to support and encourage a new cook, here are three things you should never say to them —and what you could say instead.

When I came across photos of this kitchen, I instantly fell in love. For the most part, I'm a minimalist when it comes to design — I like to add color and texture through artwork or by displaying vintage items on open shelving — but I couldn't resist the bright and bold geometric wallpaper in this otherwise simple, modern kitchen.

There are a few key decisions the homeowner made that make this wallpaper successful, and that you can use if you want to try this look in your space.